Muggle Studies
by benign sadist
Summary: YGO/HP crossover. Mokuba is a transfer student to Hogwarts, but little does he know someone is after his brother - again. Meanwhile, greedy wizards have been tampering with Muggle technology for their own gain and Voldemort is always somewhere near...
1. The Mealtime Act

Yep, it's yet another YGO/HP crossover fic, but this time with Mokuba as the one going to Hogwarts. Somehow, I always thought Mokuba was the one in the Yugi-and-Co. group that was the perfect age to start in Hogwarts, but anyhow...Voldemort is still the bad guy, but he's **not after the Millennium Items this time **- although the Millennium Items are involved (The Yamis do need to have _some_ fun...).

This takes place in Harry & Co.'s sixth year, which translates into Ginny's 4th year and Mokuba is in his second year of magic learning. Just to clear up any future confusion. 

**WARNING:** I've tried to be careful, but there still might be one or two 'Order of the Phoenix' spoilers in here, so be warned. Also a warning beforehand for OOC-ness and yes, there will be OCs (I mean, c'mon, Mokuba won't be having classes with Harry! He's a second-year...) No pairings yet though...sheesh, he's only a kid! 

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter. I only think I do. Humor me, please? Thanks also to all the YGO/HP fanfic writers out there for inspiring this (you guys know who you are out there, you're great~) and thanks to White Angel for the idea of the Imperial School of Magic. 

And at last...the story starts....

**Muggle Studies **

Ch. 1 - The Mealtime Act

It was a typical Kaiba family lunch scene, minus the constantly bleeping cell phone, the ever-present laptop and the usual thick file of Kaiba Corp. documents. Never mind that the elder Kaiba was now glaring holes into his younger brother's head, or that his secretary back at the office now had to juggle all the calls and rescheduling that Kaiba himself usually handled.

Yes, the Mealtime Act was working.

"Glaring at me won't work, nii-sama," Mokuba broke the silence and popped another sushi into his mouth. "I've seen you use that too many times."

Sighing, his brother gave up on the intimidation tactic and picked up his chopsticks. "What will then? What exactly do you want from this Mokuba?" Seto Kaiba was very fond of his younger brother, but there were still limits to how much he would take from him.

"I read somewhere that it's unhealthy for a family to spend mealtimes working or being completely occupied with business. Mealtimes should be, quote, 'family time, quality time spent discussing our day'"

" - You forbade me from discussing business."

"Well, yeah, but Seto, this is just so we can spend more time together!" Mokuba jabbed a forkful of food at Kaiba. "Besides, you did sign the Mealtime Act."

"At 3:30 in the morning when you knew I would do anything to get back to sleep and when you knew that I trusted you not to abuse my signature."

"You signed it. You're not going to break your promise, are you nii-sama?"

"I'm tempted." But his brother was smiling. A ghost of a real smile, it's true, but a smile all the same.

Mokuba sighed and scrutinized Kaiba. "The company isn't everything Seto, but you're making it out to be."

"Hnh." Seto still wasn't convinced. In a way, thought Mokuba sadly, the 5-year gap between them seemed more like it was 10 years.

"So," Mokuba continued brightly, "Let's discuss what we're going to do in the near future"

"I have a business meeting with one of Kaiba Corp.'s old associates, no doubt." Kaiba rarely brought up their late adoptive father if he could help it. "To discuss something about military bases and missiles of all things, all of which I have no interest in whatsoever"

" - besides business," Mokuba cut in flatly.

Kaiba glared at his brother briefly before listing items again, as if he'd never been interrupted.

"First, I'm going to burn that Mealtime Act of yours with my signature on it "

His younger brother cracked a mischievous grin. "Too late, I have back-up copies!"

" Then, I'm going to cancel all your 'Family Life' magazine subscriptions that you've been getting "

Mokuba's grin became even wider. "Gee Seto, do you really want me to trash all the 'suspicious' reading material I find in your room? Or maybe I should just tell the media about your preferred reading preferences "

"Why you - You shouldn't even be digging around in my room And let me tell you, the only reason I signed your Mealtime Act was because I thought it was for school or something along those lines."

"It's summer Seto. There's no school" _and that's why you're at the office 24/7 _"But speaking of school, I've been transferred to an, uhm, exclusive boarding school in England."

"England?" Kaiba frowned. "Have you been getting in to trouble? Is that why they want to send you away? Frankly, I can sympathize."

"No nii-sama. The teachers say I'm an angel and a genius and that the elite school in England would be better for me." Funny how easy it was to lie - well, not a complete lie - to those who care about you.

Kaiba fixed his younger brother with a keen blue gaze and Mokuba tried not to fidget. "England, is it? First that private academy in China and now England. What's wrong with the schools in Japan, I wonder. Well, I suppose you could improve your English...what's this school called?"

"Hogwarts." Noting the look on his brother's face that showed exactly what Seto thought of a school with a name like that, Mokuba quickly added, "Onegai, nii-sama? I really really want to go..." Yep, the Kaiba Commandment Thou Shalt Not Beg could be bent when applied to family members. 

He let out a sigh of relief when his brother reluctantly nodded. "Remember last year, Mokuba? When you wanted to go to that Chinese academy so bad, you made up some nonsense about wand-waving and magic?" Kaiba's gaze softened slightly. "You're going to be gone for most of the year and be half a world away though"

"Yeah, but think about it this way: You'll be free to spend all the quality time you want with your laptop at meal times, Seto."

"Imagine all the work I could get done for once."

Mokuba wished sometimes his conscience would just give him a break. Seto would hear the word 'magic' and then block out everything else he might have to say. Unless he was talking about Magic Cards, of course

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Yugi Mutou was straightening out the order forms for the new booster decks when he heard a customer walk into the shop. 

"Hang on, I'm coming right up!" He rushed up the stairs and pushed his blond bangs out of his eyes. "Welcome to the Kame Game Shop, can I help yo - oh hey, Mokuba-kun! What's up?"

The younger boy beamed back and shrugged. "Nothing much, I came over to say hi, that's all. I heard Jounouchi took his sister, Honda and Otogi to camp or something, so I thought it might be lonely with just you here."

"That's nice of you, but Anzu drops by after dance class and it's never lonely with him here with me." Yugi jerked a thumb at his semi-transparent yami. Apparently he was testing out the new RPG game in the store and merely waved before resuming his conquest of the 14th level. 

"He's been at it since this morning," Yugi supplied, noticing Mokuba's glance. "It took forever for him to figure out you needed to plug it in first."

"Heard that, aibou."

"Where's your Gramps?" asked Mokuba, as soon as the desire to laugh at the Pharaoh subsided somewhat. 

"Oh, he's on a date. Don't laugh, they're actually pretty right for each other - they're both obsessed, older-generation gamersstop laughing Yami!" Yugi tried to tear the game console away from his yami. "You look like you came here to tell me something, Mokuba."

When Mokuba instantly sobered, Yugi worriedly asked, "Is something wrong with Kaiba-kun?"

"Yes. His ego," Yami muttered, ducking the swipe Yugi threw at him.

Mokuba shuffled his feet. "Well, I do have something to saybut can you promise to believe me and not think I'm crazy?" When Yugi and Yami exchanged simultaneously horrified and worried looks, he quickly said, "No, no, it's not anything like _that, _whatever you're thinking." 

Yugi relaxed and said, "We'll do our best. Tell us."

Mokuba took a deep breath and spilled the story he'd been dying to tell Seto for the past months, or even year. About how a year ago, he'd been accepted into the Imperial School of Magical Arts in China, and how Seto refused to hear any of it until he'd tweaked the story and said it was an academy for the gifted. He blurted all the stuff he'd learned that year: wands, magics, spirit energy, chiand about how he felt, lying to Seto all this time

"You've been wanting to say all this for a long time, haven't you?" Yugi commented.

Yami just nodded solemnly. "Don't feel guilty, Mokuba. You could hit Kaiba over the head with the truth and if he doesn't like what he hears, he'll never see it. I've heard about these ancient schools of magic though."

"So they exist; they're real." Yugi sat down, grinning from ear to ear. "Wowlucky you."

Encouraged, Mokuba continued, "For some reason, they've transferred me to the school in England for the next year, and I'm going to be leaving in a week or so."

"But school doesn't start until about a month from now!"

"I'll be staying with my English pen-pal who's going to the same school. You know, just to get used to England first?"

"Ah. That's wise." Yami hit the PAUSE button and looked intently at Mokuba. "There's something you want us to do, it seems."

Mokuba sighed. "Yeah, I have a huge favor I want to ask of you two"

"No, you're not giving Kaiba my god cards as a going-away present."

"No, that's not it.whoo, imagine that though! Well, you know how my nii-sama is. Always thinking he can handle the world and then getting himself stuck and he's too proud to ask for or accept helpyou know how many times he's near killed himself." Mokuba bit his lip. "Since I'll be going away to England, I won't be able to look out for him as much as I want to, and since you two are the only two people here he has any shred of respect for"

"You want us to babysit Kaiba," Yami said flatly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Yeah, something like," said Mokuba, not daring to meet either Yugis' eyes. "So will you? PleaseI know it'll be tough. Seto can be a total ass at times"

"You mean, all the time."

"Yeah, that toowill you?" Mokuba asked hopefully.

Yugi placed his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "Of course we will," he said simply, "Kaiba-kun is our friend and so are you."

Mokuba looked at the older, tri-color-haired boy. "Really? You will?....uh thanksThanks, Yugi, and uhm, Yami"

He could still hear Yami Yugi howling with mirth as he left the Kame Game Shop. His conscience told him that if Seto ever found out the truth, well

It couldn't be worse than the time Seto had stuffed him in a suit and dragged him along to a whole 72-hours worth of business conventions, right?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, so there's the long first chapter...yes, yes, there IS a plot that will emerge...somewhat...slowly...but it'll be there, no worries! Harry, Ron and Hermione will appear in the next chapter too. Review if you like it~!! And flame if you see something blindingly wrong about it...so I'll know what to stop doing....

~benign sadist~  



	2. The Problem With Ginny

So here 'tis! The second, loonnngg chapter (yeah, I have a problem figuring out where to stop) is here! 

Thanks to **DHASN** and **Curtis Zidane Ziraa** for being the first reviewers....even with all the other YGO/HP crossovers around. Also thanks to the anonymous reviewer....how Kaiba deals with Yami Yugi? My guess is that he knows there's another Yugi, one that is more ruthless and like him than the other...he figures that he doesn't care what that other Yugi believes he is - provided he continues to duel with him of course! As for magic and Millennium Items...one word describes him: Denial. He'll believe it when it suits him - he practically snatched the god card from Isis/Ishizu and bought the whole Duel Monsters champ story...what doesn't work for him, he ditches. At least, that's my opinion~ 

**Your standard SPOILER warning is still in effect.** Especially since this chapter has Harry and Co.....

_Disclaimer:_ In my dreams. 

**Muggle Studies **

Ch. 2 - The Problem With Ginny

"Dunno what she's been up to all summer at all," muttered Ron as he and Harry trudged up the rickety stairs to Ron's bedroom. 

It took Harry a moment to figure out what Ron his friend was talking about, but as they passed Ginny's closed door, he understood.

"You reckon something's wrong with Ginny then?"

Ron shot a dark look at the offending door and continued, "She's been holed up in her room ever since Fred and George bought her an owl. Maybe she's writing letters to her" Ron made a face "_boyfriend_, but there's only so many letters you can write. Mind you, Dean Thomas probably isn't much of a letter writer himself."

"Have you ever told your mum or anything?...She wasn't like this even after the Tom Riddle mess." Harry shoved his glasses back up his nose and frowned worriedly.

"Been there, done that. Everyone's been so busy around here, what with Fred and George and members of the Order dropping byI don't think anyone else besides me has noticed. And," the red-head grinned sheepishly, "Don't laugh, but I even wrote Hermione."

They finally reached the third landing of the Burrow and Harry grinned back at the familiar, violently orange bedroom.

"What did she do, recommend a book for understanding withdrawal symptoms?" he said jokingly as he flopped onto the bed.

Ron tossed Harry's bag to a side and screwed up his face as if mulling over a profound cliché. "She said it was a girl thing and that it'd be best to leave her alone." He kicked a stray textbook under his bed in a vain attempt to tidy the room. "She's coming tomorrow though." 

"Well, we could all go to Diagon Alley or something; we haven't been there in ages and maybe Ginny will cheer up." Harry pushed all the security questions and problems regarding Voldemort to the back of his mind. He was determined to enjoy his summer. 

"Yeah, the sooner Hermione gets here, the sooner I can get my owl back," Ron groused, waving at Pigwidgeon's empty cage. "Pig's been vacationing in Ginny's room all this time. I wonder who she's writing to so often that she needs two owls."

The two spent most of the afternoon discussing everything from Quidditch teams (Ron adamantly refused to rank the Chudley Cannons as anything less than the best) to coming up with potential people Ginny could be corresponding with ("It better not be Malfoy, Ginny has loads better taste than that."). 

This, thought Harry contentedly, is what summer is about, lazing around and joking around with friends and not worrying for now about anything that might be looming on the horizon. Not worrying yet, anyway.

"Say speaking of which, the Quality Quidditch Supply store just became the Quidditch Super Storewonder if they have any of those new speed-boosters"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Life at the Burrow was even more hectic than Harry remembered. Not only was the cluttered, lopsided house more crowded than ever (what with the Weasley twins deciding not to move out just yet, and the two oldest Weasleys coming back to get briefed on the situation for the Order), there were always people Apparating and Disapparating everywhere and sounds of three-way conversations via the fireplace were perfectly normal. It seemed as if Dumbledore had designated the Burrow as the second headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Number 12 Grimmauld Place was now being used as a rendez-vous for wizards all over the world involved in the defense movement against Voldemort. In a way, Harry was relieved he wasn't going there - the memories the place brought up were still painful. 

In the midst of all the pandemonium, Mrs. Weasley still charged valiantly into the fray, duster in one hand and wand in the other. 

"A crowded house is no excuse for it to be a messy one!" she announced, pointing the wand vigorously at objects all over the house, which immediately righted themselves or shot back into the drawers they had come from. Catching Fred and George who had just Apparated in with a CRACK, she ordered, "You two, move all the stuff you've placed in P" she caught herself and bit her lip, "in the spare bedroom out. Ron, I want you to tidy up in there. Harry, could you be a dear and help him out?"

Ron looked up from his fame of Gobstones and asked, "But why're we cleaning out Per- I mean, the spare bedroom? I thought Hermione was staying in Ginny's room." 

Mrs. Weasley was now brutally scouring a particularly grimy vase that was squealing in pain. "Of course she is," she said briskly, "But Tonks and Lupin are coming over to lay low for a while and all of the other rooms are crowded as they are."

"Lupin's coming over too?" Harry sat up and grinned at Ron. "Awesome!" 

"Say Mum, when's Hermione arriving?" Ron asked.

"She's here already, unpacking in Ginny's roombut of course you two wouldn't know." Mrs. Weasley finished with the vase and eyed a dusty music box that was inching away from the formidable woman. "Now get working!"

Hermione joined them sometime later and the three tackled the abandoned bedroom energetically. 

"So, have you figured out what's wrong with Ginny yet? She's not acting normal," Ron wanted to know as they shook out the bedsheets. 

She only huffed and said, "I told you it was just a girl thing and to leave her alone. And what makes you think you know how a normal girl should act?"

Ron was about to say something when Mrs. Weasley's voice was heard downstairs.

  
" - there's no more room, Ginny! Especially with Tonks and Lupin coming over too"

" - Mum! You promised me, remember? I asked and asked you and you said it was perfectly all right"

  
Hearing Ginny's voice, the three friends dropped the sheets and headed downstairs. Mother and daughter were near yelling at each other, the old books they were shelving lying forgotten on the floor. Onlookers were eying Mrs. Weasley's waving wand cautiously. 

  
"Well it was all right then, but now - with everybody here - there's no room! Where will we put your friend?"

"You promised! Mokuba's already asked permission and he's probably on his way here - you can't say no now!"

  
From their view of the scene from the stairs, Harry muttered, "Moe- who?" 

"She's cheating on Dean Thomas!" Ron looked torn between shock and outrage.

"Oh shush you two" Hermione hissed.

  
Mrs. Weasley sighed and bent over to puck up a book. "I'm really sorry Ginny, but it must've slipped my mind that your friend was coming. Of course we won't turn him away" Ginny squealed and hugged her mother tightly "I just hope he won't mind sleeping out in the shed. Who is Mo-Mobaka anyway?"

A small voice from the fireplace said, "Anothat would be me, uh, ma'am." A short, purple-eyed boy with a long shock of black hair was standing there, sheepishly shuffling his feet. "Uhm, this is the Burrow, right?" 

"Of course this is. My, the Floo Network has gotten complicated, hasn't it?" A tall, bespectacled wizard with a long silver beard straightened up and dusted himself off, eyes twinkling merrily. "Hello Molly."

"DUMBLEDORE!" Harry bolted down the stairs to greet his old friend, leaving Ron wondering incredulously what Ginny's odd friend had to do with the headmaster.

"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione." To Mrs. Weasley, he said, "Molly, I'm afraid I'm going to impose another guest on you. This is Mokuba Kaiba from Domino City, Japan, formerly of the Imperial School of Magical Arts. Due to recent events, he has been transferred to Hogwarts and since he's already acquainted with Ginny, I thought it would be best if he could stay here and get used to everything."

"Well of course," beamed a slightly flustered Mrs. Weasley. "Harry, Ron, would you get his trunk, and," to Mokuba, "Ginny will show you where you're going to be sleepingyou won't mind the shed, will you? We're a bit crowded"

Mokuba shook his head. "Oh no, not at all. The shed will be just fine, thank you Mrs. Weasley."

"Are you sure about that? There are spider webs the size of - of - oh, never mind, you can't sleep there!" Ginny thought for a moment. "You could stay in my room, with Hermione"

"None of that!" Ron cut in hurriedly, and turning to the Japanese boy, "Tell you what, I think you can fit in my room with me and Harry, that is, if Harry doesn't mind?" Harry shook his head to show that he didn't. 

Mokuba grinned. "Thanks. I'm sorry, I didn't know"

Ron waved away his thanks. "Oy, Ginny, since I'm taking in your friend, d'you reckon I could have Pig back?"

"I'll come upstairs with you lot then, to get Mo-Mokuba, is it? Mokuba settled in." Mrs. Weasley cast a glance at Dumbledore. "Would you like a spot of tea before you go off again?"

Dumbledore just smiled. "No, I'm afraid I'm wanted in about 3 different places and all 3 insist that I hurry. Thank you again Molly." With that, Dumbledore Disapparated. 

Hands on her hips, Mrs. Weasley regarded the group of teens. "Well, have you lot forgotten your manners? Introduce yourselves!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

  
"So that's who you've been writing to all summer," mused Ron as he, Harry, Hermione and Ginny cleared out a corner of Ron's room for Mokuba. "How old is he? He looks like a first year." Mrs. Weasley had hauled the subject of their conversation to meet the other occupants of the house. 

Ginny carefully stacked up the 'Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle' comics and answered, "He's going to be in his second year at Hogwarts, so he's 12. I've been writing to him since I joined the Muggle Outreach Program a year ago."

"Ooh, isn't that the program where you play big sister or big brother to the Muggle-born first- and second-years that are coming in?" Hermione asked keenly. "I wanted to join, but there just wasn't time, with things being the way they were."

"So he's Muggle-born," commented Harry, "And he's switching schools just when he's gotten used to his old one. That can't be easy for him."

"I wonder why though, we've never had transfer students at Hogwarts before," continued Ron. "Wait a secondif he's a second-year" he turned to Ginny, a look of horror crossing his face, "Then not only are you two-timing Dean, you're cradle-robbing too!"

His only answer was Ginny trying to smother him with a barrage of pillows.

Hermione shook her head sadly. "When will he learn that you shouldn't talk to girls like that?"

Harry couldn't answer.He was having a hard enough time trying not to laugh at his friend.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Yes, Ginny *does* get a boyfriend in Book Five, in the form of Dean Thomas of all people....heh.

Reviews are very very welcome~

~benign sadist~


	3. Life With the Weasleys

Wow...I really am feeling loved...but anyway, here's the third long chappie (I apologize if they seem to be getting longer and longer....without any apparent plot as of yet....I promise it's coming). Since the Terrible Institution of Knollig (aka School) is starting...updates won't be as often (**wince** I know, I know, it's bad enough as is). So sorry!!

Thanks to all my reviewers: **Kaitourei **(Yeah, I am hoping to stick the past life in here somewhere, the High Priest is seriously cool~ Thanks!!), **the faithful anonymous reviewer** (I'm trying to get to the plot, I promise...I am...^__^), and to **Yugi's Little Sister **(Well, I just think Ron is jealous of Ginny - think about it, he's older than she is, yet she's the one with boyfriends and he's still single...lol...).

Here we go....

**Your standard SPOILER warning is still in effect!! **

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own YGO or Harry Potter, but I DO own this fanfic and any OCs that might appear in the future. Thank you~ 

**Muggle Studies **

Ch. 3 - Life With the Weasleys

After a noisy, rambunctious and delicious supper, Harry, Ron and Mokuba found it impossible to do anything but flop onto their respective beds and massage their bloated stomachs. Hermione and Ginny had been unlucky enough to have been caught and were now doing the dishes downstairs.

"So," said Harry thickly, "What d'you think of England so far, Mokuba?"

"Delicious," Mokuba muttered back, "So that was treacle tart." 

Ron grunted. "Yeah, Mum really outdid herself this time. Though I can't see how you were able to eat anything at all, with Hermione firing questions at you like that about your school."

"You're Muggle-born"Harry began, curious, "Yet your parents just let you come over and stay with an English pen-pal you've never met, without checking first or anything"

"I don't have any parents." Realizing how pitiful that sounded, Mokuba amended, "I mean, my parents died when I was really small and I never knew them or anything."

"Oh." Harry suddenly felt a surge of sympathy for the younger boy. "So who've you been living with?"

"Not with a big fat pig of an uncle like Harry's, I hope," snorted Ron. 

"No, I live with my older brother and he takes care of me." And he's the best big brother in the worldif only he wasn't so stubborn about certain things! 

"You have a brother? How old is he? 'Cause I've got about five of them and they sure 'take care' of me"

"He's five years older than I am, so he's about your ageI guess."

Ron whistled. "Blimeyhe must be working like a " He looked furtively around for Hermione and her S.P.E.W. campaign, "like a house-elf!"

"Yeahhe's always working," said Mokuba wistfully.

Harry caught on. "Homesick already?"

"Nah" The younger boy chuckled. "I just hope he's okay"

A companionable silence filled the small room as the three lay back thinking.

"The Hogwarts letters should be coming any day now; reckon we could go to Diagon Alley and show you around Mokuba," Harry offered. "Hermione's been talking about that new book she wanted and maybe Ginny'll come too"

"Well, since you've brought up Ginny," Ron propped himself up with an effort and faced Mokuba, "I've been meaning to ask you - is there anything between you and her?" When Mokuba just looked confused, Ron clarified, "Are you two, you know, going out or anything?"

"Ron!" Harry couldn't help blurting out. "That's not very nice, you know!"

"She's four years older than I am," Mokuba said faintly, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I should hope not!"

Ron flopped back down, satisfied. "You're okay then."

"Ron, how could you just ask that?"

"Well, what? I wanted to know what's been occupying her all summer, like a good brother would" Ron yawned and waved Harry's protests away. "G'night then, all."

"'Night Ron, Mokuba. Or however you say it in Japan."

"Oyasumi."

"Oy - what?"  
"Nevermind"

_____________________________________________________________________________

  
"No nii-samaI arrived last eveningthey're called the Weasleys and they're all really nice and stuffof course they've been feeding me! They're really quaint though, don't use the postal servicethey use birds, uhm, owls actually for carrying letters - what do you mean, that's nonsense? - so get used to owls dropping off letters from me, 'kay? And tell warn your secretary too. Yeah, I'll definitely bring my laptop, but I'm not sure how often they'll let me use it; the school generally disapproves of that. Yeah, like last year. I dunno how much money I'll be needing, our booklists haven't come in yet - I guess if you just transfer money to that account from last year, they'll transfer it to one in London"

Mokuba sighed as he listened to his brother's tirade: Seto's way of protesting his studying overseas and so far away. It was a private joke between them that Mokuba was priming the elder Kaiba to win the Mr. Mom competition a few years from now. 

"I'm fine, Seto! You're doing - you're doing what?! I don't need half that much money - no, I don't bribe my teachersand no, you are not buying the school! Well, if you were joking that wasn't funny. Yes, I brush my teeth, where did that come from? Okay. Gotcha. Nii-sama, take care of yourself, okay? Get some sleep, you need ittoo much coffee isn't good for you. Okay. Uh-huhall right already! Don't you have a meeting to go to or something? Yeah. I miss you too'bye nii-sama."

He watched his brother's face blink out on the screen and turned off his laptop, hoping that net-meetings   
would work at Hogwarts too. Last year, the networks had been incompatible and his nii-sama had spent weeks tweaking itcome to think of it, if he asked Hermione about what settings Hogwarts used, she would tell him. She did seem the most knowledgeable of his group of new friends so far. Downstairs, breakfast was already in full swing.

"Be seeing you lot then - " 

"Drop by if you're going to Diagon Alley, special discounts to friends and family members - "

"Fred and George Weasley, leaving without breakfast now, are you?"

"Oh right, thanks Mum."

"Accio Breakfast!" There came the sound of a heavily loaded plate whizzing through the air. 

"Brilliant! Let me have a go - Accio Breakfast!" Another plate flew, but then a SMASH was heard, followed by the unmistakable clink of shattered plate. 

"Must've been that extra crumpet you put on there, Fred."

"Oh really, you two. Reparo! Now get out of here, both of you, before you wreck anything else, shoo!" 

Mokuba couldn't resist smiling broadly at this family breakfast scene. Usually breakfast was eaten alone in a big empty kitchen, his brother having already left for workbut the Weasleys' bustling daily life was a welcome contrast. 

"Oh, Ginny dear, where's your friend?"

"He was up before me and Harry were" Ron's voice supplied.

Time to make his grand entrance. "Good morningI'm sorry I took so long, but I was just telling my older brother I arrived and I'm fine and all so he wouldn't worry"

Mrs. Weasley plonked a veritable mountain of rolls, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage and buttered toast in front of him as her husband frowned at his young guest. 

"How could you have been talking to your brother when the fireplace is down here? And aren't you from a Muggle family?"

Mokuba picked up his fork and shook his head. "I wasn't using the Floo Network. I was using my laptop."

Ron's father's face lit up instantly. "A what? A lap-top. Is that another piece of Muggle technology?"  
"My dad's keen on Muggle things, you know," Ginny said.

" - yeah, like plugs and mirocaves - miniwaves - ?" Ron put in.

" - Microwaves, Ron, microwaves. Honestly, Muggle Studies isn't that bad of a class" Hermione interjected.

Mokuba handed over his slim silver laptop to Mr. Weasley by way of explanation. Reverently, Arthur Weasley looked the 'Muggle contraption' over. 

"And what does it do? May I - ?" When Mokuba nodded, he fumbled with opening it. In his excitement and fear of breaking it, Harry had to help him get it open. "Oh my - this is - that's a key-keyboard, isn't that what you call it?"

"Yeahuhm, it does well just about most thingsI mean, uhm" Mokuba racked his brain to find a way to explain what exactly a laptop did. Luckily, both Harry and Hermione knew very well how to work a laptop and were already busily trying out the programs they found installed. 

Mr. Weasley was speechless with delight. "Amazing what Muggles have achieved"

"Wow, Dudley ahs a laptop too, but it's nowhere as advanced as this," Harry said, "It even works perfectly here, surrounded by magic"

"Yeah, my brother put in anti-interference shields on the signal receptionby the way, Hermione, would you by any chance know what the network settings are at Hogwarts?"

Hermione looked slightly confused for a moment, then said, "Oh Mokuba, nothing technological or electronic will work within miles of Hogwarts. You wouldn't even be able to turn it on; the magic makes it all go haywire."

"But don't you have a Muggle-tech room or something? At my old school, electronics go haywire everywhere too, unless you're using them in the Muggle-tech room. That's the only place where Muggle technology can be used and I used to go there, plug in my laptop and check my e-mail and all that" At the looks on everyone's faces, Mokuba stopped and said, "I guess Hogwarts doesn't have one then."

"I never knew the Imperial School had something like that!" Hermione's eyes shone with interest. "But doesn't the magical community object to it, especially the pure-bloods?"

Mokuba pondered this, dredging up all the stuff he'd ever learned about it. "Well, the students don't complain because the Muggle-born ones like me can contact their families easily and play video games and stuff. The Muggle Studies classes actually have lessons in there - they watch Muggle movies and all. Besides, the Ministry of Mage over there supports it. There's even a government-sponsored branch that incorporates Muggle technology with wizardry to get the best of both worlds." Under his breath, he added, "Had to do a paper on it last year."

"Sounds like my dream come true," murmured Mr. Weasley. "Isn't the Ministry afraid of the Muggle world finding out though?"

"Most Muggles there are aware of magic anyway. It's different for wizards and stuff over therethe Muggles have always been more accepting of all things magical because of all the superstitions and myths in their history. We're a lot more open to magic, with the exception of a few." Like my brother, thought Mokuba sourly. 

Hermione agreed. "That's trueI've never heard of any major witch-hunts or burnings in Asian history"

"Muggle Studies sounds cool" grinned Harry. "Imagine a final on how to play video games." 

Ron and Ginny stared open-mouthed at Mokuba. "No" Ron moaned, "Not another Hermionejust when I thought you were okay too"

Mokuba's face turned pink. "NoI'm not an expert or anything at allthis was just a research paper I had to do"

A diversion in the form of Tonks came crashing into the kitchen, knocking over several flower pots and yawning. "G-good morning all," she finally managed, rumpling up her carrot-red hair and sitting down. "Has Lupin left already?"

"Your hair," Mokuba said in awe, "It really can change." Last night, it had been long, curly and vivid green. 

"Not just hair, kiddo. Anything." Tonks winked at him as she reached for a cup of tea, knocking over Ginny's in the process. "Oh, sorry 'bout thatI'm a Metamorphmagus. I can change any aspect of me."

"Really?"

"Really. Try me, kid."

Mokuba grinned impishly. "Okayhow about changing your hair black, tipped red around the edges, with long, blonde spiky bangs that look like bolts of lightning. It should stand upright and it looks overall like a star. And how about changing your eye color to a brilliant violet while you're at it?"

Tonks screwed up her eyes in concentration. "Tall orderbut I can do itafter a spot of breakfast."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley handed out their Hogwarts letters and informed everyone that they were off to Diagon Alley. 

"But what about, well, You-Know-Who?" Hermione ventured, casting a glance at Harry. "Is it, well, safe?"

"If You-Know-Who is after us, then the only safe place is where Dumbledore is," Mrs. Weasley said briskly as she cleared the table of plates. "Now that everyone knows the truth, the main thing is to stick together and show the world that we're not going to be defeated by our fear."

Harry had a feeling Dumbledore had told her this.

They were ready to leave for London via Floo Powder when Tonks ran up to them, nearly tripping over a pile of old rugs. 

"Mokuba, how's this?" She frowned, concentrating fiercely. For a moment, a flash of tri-colored, star-shaped hair appeared and Mokuba could've sworn it was Yami Yugi - but then the hair flopped back down and turned a violent shade of magenta. Tonks blew the hair off her face and sighed, wagging a finger at Mokuba. "I'll get it, just you wait." She walked off, muttering to herself.

Mokuba figured he'd have a camera ready whenever she did manage it. 

"Floo powder?" he asked Harry, who'd already taken off his glasses in preparation. Mokuba sighed. "Not my favorite way to travel," he said, remembering how Dumbledore had gotten them both lost amongst the many fireplaces in the network.

"Hear, hear," muttered Harry, passing him the flowerpot. 

____________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Tonks is an Auror, and yeah, she has the cool ability to shape-shift...whew, finally to Diagon Alley!! Again...reviews will be appreciated!! 

~benign sadist~  



	4. Diagon Alley and What Happened There

I'm back~!! With the weekly update, as promised (although this may change later when the homework really starts loading on -___-`````). Am feeling very loved as of nowthank you to all my reviewers!!!

**Standard Spoiler Warning!! Standard Spoiler Warning!!** (see Ch. 1 for details).  
_Disclaimer_: Don't own no nothin'. You got a problem with that? (I do.) 

Now, for the Q&A:

**Asher Tye**: You caught me! I did consider (and start) a fanfic where Mokuba is in his first year at the Imperial School of Magical Artsuntil I realized I needed time to create this school in detail (all I have is the headmaster and one or two mundane courses). As for your other two questionsThe reason for the transfer will be answered next chapter - promise, promise - and well, Dumbledore *always* knows what's up in the wizarding world.

**The Anonymous One**, **shiningcrystal**, and **Ice-Spirit Phoenix**: Thank you, thank you.the Asian magic bit came from reading too much of that type manga~ 

**Curtis Zidane Ziraa**: Oh you're back!!! I know, I should~ 

**Kaitourei**: Yes, Tonks is from book 5 (if there's an OC, believe me, it's blindingly obvious)And by the way, I can't wait 'til you update on your fanfics! I love 'Tumult' and your 'Under the Wraps' thing got me hooked on Yami Malik

**Peter Kim**: Wow, it sounds like you've got a plot of your ownI don't think dear old Pegsy is going to figure in this fic (at least, not as much) but I digress. Yes, this takes place after Battle City and before the past-life arc. It's not dueling-centric eithera pity

**Lady Addiction**: Againthank you thank you.I guess it's because I have somewhat of a Ron-favoritism-complex going on *points to e-mail*   


**Muggle Studies **

Ch. 4 - Diagon Alley...And What Happened There

A vision of cobblestone streets, row upon row of quaint shops with signs hanging above and wizarding folk hustling to and fro greeted Mokuba as he blinked away the dust that accompanied Floo travel. It was exactly as he imagined a typical British street would look, unlike the disappointingly paved roads and modern traffic jams of Muggle London. 

Mrs. Weasley finished fussing over a dusty-looking Harry and strode over. "Since this is your first time dear, where do you want to go first?"

"I need to get to the Gringotts branch here first, actually. I don't have any wizarding money on me at all," he admitted sheepishly. 

"Gringotts'll be that big white marble building straight up ahead, see?" Ginny pointed out. "I suppose you're going there to exchange your Muggle money, right?"

"NoI have an account, that is, uhm, back in Japan, and they should've transferred all the stuff to one here" Mokuba looked around at his new friends. "Tell you what, how about I go in there and get whatever I need there done and meet you somewhere, say, half an hour from now?"

"We can meet up with you right outside Gringotts here in half an hour," Hermione offered. "That is, if you really don't need us to come with youGringotts can be kind of intimidating at first"

Mokuba shook his head. "It'll just be a boring wait for you guys, and you all have your own school shopping to do anyway." When Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to say that Of course she was coming with him, he hastily put in, "I'll manage. It's perfectly OK, I'm used to handling stuff like this on my own." 

"If you insist then," Mrs. Weasley gave in reluctantly. 

Ron put in a good word for Mokuba, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Aah, leave him be Mum, it's not like those goblins in there are going to eat him up or leave him stranded in there."

"In half an hour then," Harry said as the Weasley group moved off.

_________________________________________________________________

The agreed-upon time passed in a blur of goblins confused and disagreeing over vault account numbers (international or otherwise), but they eventually reassigned him vault number 826. Two high-speed underground rides later (Mokuba made a note to include roller coasters like these for future Kaibaland additions), and he found himself exiting Gringotts quite a bit heavier than he'd been going in - pockets and moneybags now loaded with gold. 

Right on time, Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting outside, each munching away at a large strawberry and peanut butter ice cream. As Mokuba approached, Harry thrust one into his hands, saying, "My treat. Call it a 'Welcome to Diagon Alley' thing."  
  
"Oh, I can't - I mean," Mokuba fumbled one-handedly for his money to pay Harry back.

Ron slung an arm over Mokuba's shoulder. "Of course you can. It's strawberry and peanut butter ice cream topped with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, nuts and look - there's the cherry. If Hermione here can wolf one down in mere seconds -"

"Ron!"

" - yeah, well, so can you."

The four then meandered their way around the colorful streets and odd stores. Mokuba wished they could go into each and every one of the stores, or stay long enough in each for him to examine everything of interest (they'd had to drag him away from the Dragons section of Flourish and Blotts - he'd been looking for stuff to send to his dragon-obsessed brother)but there were school supplies to get and he had to get his wand rechecked at Ollivander's (that odd little man that gave Mokuba the creeps). But finally, the group had all the books, parchment and potion supplies to last them a lifetime, if not a school year. 

Huffing and puffing, Mrs. Weasley called a halt in front of another ice-cream parlor. "All right then, we seem to have gotten everythingMokuba, did you check that list Dumbledore gave you?"

He checked it again, crossing off all the items he already had. Replacement cauldron.wand checked "I've gotten everythingexcept my uniform."

"Madame Malkin's," Hermione said promptly, "Which reminds me, I need to go there too, for a new set of robes, and maybe some new dress robes"

"What's wrong with the set you wore at the Yule Ball, Hermione?" Harry inquired.

Ginny sighed sympathetically. "Oh, nothing, besides the fact that the Yule Ball was - two - years ago?"

"Oh"

Ron scowled. "This better not have anything to do with Vicky."

"Vicky?" Mokuba asked curiously. "That's the second time I've heard that name, who is it?"

Hermione just blushed and resumed, "Mokuba can come with me then, and we'll meet up with you all at"

" 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'", Harry finished. "We did promise them a visit, after all."

"Well, then, now that that's settled," Mrs. Weasley shooed them all off, "I'll be taking all this back to the Burrow then." 

Eying the sea of supplies, Mokuba found himself wondering How, even with magic, when Ron called out, "Good luck waiting for Hermione then, Mokubagirls take forever to choose clothes you know"

"We do nothing of that sort," said Hermione huffily. "Ignore that." 

______________________________________________________

  
Only when Mokuba had been waiting for Hermione for over an hour on the steps outside Madame Malkin's did the full truth of Ron's words hit him. His new uniform lay neatly packaged in a bag next to him, and he amused himself watching the brightly garbed passers-by go about their business. Just across the street, an old miserly wizard was going through the oddest antics to get a better deal, attracting quite an audience (although Mokuba wondered what type of bargaining involved purple-combed chickens that trumpeted like elephants). The shopkeeper had just threatened to stuff his purple chickens where they belonged on the miser when an arrogant, curly-haired boy about Mokuba's age strutted in front of him with his group of friends and surrounded the Japanese boy. 

It's kind of difficult to ignore a group of people that appear out of nowhere, especially if it's clear they're trying to threaten you. Feeling slightly annoyed and claustrophobic, Mokuba said finally, "Excuse me, but do you have something you want to say to me? Because if you don't, I'd appreciate it if you backed off a bit."

Curly-top was either deaf or blatantly ignoring him. Mokuba gritted his teeth and tried again, less politely. "Hey, you're kind of in my face, so move off a bit, will you? You and your little gang."

Was it just him, or were they closing in on him? He got to his feet and faced the curly-haired blond, who was obviously the ringleader. "Look, you. Shove. Off. Before I make you."

The fair boy finally blinked and flinched disdainfully away, as if close contact with Mokuba would contaminate him.   
"Oh well look, if it isn't a filthy Mudblood. The streets are dirty enough without this trash lying about, don't you think?" This was pronounced with a slight accent and his coterie laughed right on cue. 

Mokuba usually prided himself on having a lot more patience and tolerance for others than his nii-sama, but after a long hard day of shopping, this really ticked him off. Besides, he didn't like the idea that he was one to be threatened.   
"You'll find the street looks a lot cleaner close up," he chirped, "Shall I show you?"

"Get away from me, Mudblood. You should feel honored you breathe the same air as we pure-bloods do, filth."

Any smart response Mokuba might've had was interrupted by Hermione finally emerging out of the shop, hands full of purchases. 

"Sorry, Mokuba, made a few more purchases than I'd expected - oh, are these new friends of yours?"

The blonde and his gang laughed at this. "And look at the nerve of this Mudblood, that she thinks we would stoop down to their level and associate willingly with them."

His tone caught Hermione short. She straightened up and said to Mokuba, "These pure-blood freaks are all over the place, but most of them don't have the skill their pedigrees claim. Come on, let's get going."

"Leaving already, Granger?" sneered a voice. Draco Malfoy, accompanied by the ever-present Crabbe and Goyle sauntered up to Curly-head and said, "Well done, Petyr. These Mudbloods are finally getting what they deserve."

Petyr drew himself up at this praise. To Hermione, Malfoy drawled, "What happened, Granger? Did Potty and the Weasel finally get sick of your ugly face and dump you? First time I'll credit them for good sense."

Hermione just tightened her grip on her bags and motioned for Mokuba to start walking. Malfoy caught sight of the younger boy and smiled. 

"How sweet, Mudblood. Were you so desperate no one would go out with you that you're dating this baby boy?" 

"You know, using that word all the time kind of makes it lose its impact," Mokuba retorted.

Petyr smirked, imitating Draco. "No, it just serves to put Mudbloods like you in their place."

He wasn't the only one who did good imitations. "Seems like you're already in yours, pathetic little dog. Tell me, do you bark on your own, or do you wait until your master whistles?" Mokuba grinned at the thought of him using Seto's favorite insult. 

Apparently he wasn't the only one with a short fuse. Petyr snarled and launched himself at Mokuba, and his group had formed a ring around the two when Madam Malkin herself came out of the shop to see what all the commotion was about.

"What do you think you two boys are doing?! Fighting in broad daylight on the streets! And you," she turned to face Malfoy and his two cronies. "Just standing there and not doing anything to stop them! Get out of here, all of you, and shame on you!"

Draco and Petyr left with their little entourage, the younger boy looking back over his shoulder, as if memorizing Mokuba's features to get back at him at a later, more convenient date. 

The Japanese boy picked himself up and dusted himself off. "Brat," he muttered. He looked up and suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar, white-haired someone, but he just couldn't remember who exactly he wasone of Yugi's friends, perhaps? He shook his head, and when he looked again, that familiar stranger was gone. Maybe he was just seeing things.

"Hey, Hermione, Mokuba!" Ron and Harry ran up to them, panting. "You guys took so long at Madam Malkin's, we were beginning to worry that you'd run into Malfoy or something!"

Harry noticed the grimy Mokuba and asked, "Okay, something definitely happened."

Hermione sighed. "Boys." And she walked off to show Ginny her new clothes.

"As if that sums up all the problems in the world," said Ron to her retreating back. "So, Mokuba, what happened?"  


____________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Again, Tonks IS from book five...and if Petyr comes across as a 2D, Draco-worshipping, petty character - good. That's the way I wanted him to be, at least for now....Draco will play somewhat of a bigger part later, but I thought Mokuba needed a nemesis and besides, Draco seems the type to create his own fan club. (No offense to Draco fans out there). 

For those interested, I did a pic of Mokuba in Hogwarts uniform (kinda...didn't really do the research on it~) Just take out the spaces: htt p: / / ww w. boomspeed . co m / am ph ib ian / mo kub a _ h og wa rts _1 .j pg

Review...if you want ...you know I do....

~benign sadist~ 


	5. Headmasters' Teatime

Mountains of homework   
Yet I'm typing this fanfic  
Procrastination

A lame haiku to show why I should not poet. **ahem** Down to businessthanks you guys for reviewing.It's so encouraging  
Don't worry. The plot is *finally* revealed (somewhat) in this otherwise boring chapter - but bear with me, the plot does kick in after I get Mokuba settled in - I'm just the world's worst and slowest typist. 

Again, the **Standard Disclaimer Warning** (for both Battle City and HP) and the **OC Warning** is in **_full _**effect!!

_Disclaimer_: Does not own anything except the random plot idea and the OCs. **sigh** Pity, eh?

**Q&A** **shing, sparkle, sparkle, shine**

**Asher Tye** - I did have something in mind for Mokuba's wand, but being more well-versed in Chinese lore than Japanese, I'm having a hard time decidingso I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what it's made out of yet, except that it has something to do with Oriental mythologies and legends.  
**The Anonymous One** - (may I call you T.A.O.? ) I did! I noticed how inbred they are!!(lol) Thanks.did you know you reviewing makes my day too? Heh.   
**Curtis Zidane Ziraa** - Thank you for sticking with me all the way from Ch. 1!!! I'll update weekly, unless school work forbids **grumbles at this**  
**Kaitourei** - LMAO.I just thought it was really funny that you did a Seto-Draco confrontation scene and I drew a parallel with Mokuba and a Draco-wannabe-OCNo worries, no one else besides Mokuba in the YGO-gang is going to Hogwartsso rest easy on that  
**Ice-Spirit Phoenix** - There is a reason why I spelled his name that wayI'm not going to reveal why yet (no worries, it's probably not an important fact or clue or anything, but if you are able to pick it upespecially after this chapter)

Thanks also to **kaylie** and **The Mad Tortoise** (luverly pen-name, by the way)!!

And now, I know you all want to just get on with the tale, but here's some   
**~Shameless Self-Advertisement!! ~**  
My YGO fanart site is up!! At lastso please do visitI tend to think I draw better than I write, but that's a moot point. My sister's art is also up there - and she's not bad herself, so please do visit!! (And leave a comment **hopefully**)  
h tt p: // 500 MM . cj b. net (take out the spaces ^__~)   


**Muggle Studies **

Ch.5 - Headmasters' Tea-time _(In Which the Authoress Finally Reveals That, Yes, There **IS** A Plot!)_

"Professor Dumbledore. Thank you for coming to see me on such a short notice."

"Nonsense, Professor Wang. I should apologize for not paying you a visit sooner." Dumbledore pushed his half-moon glasses up his nose and graciously accepted the proffered cup of Oolong tea. The two respective headmasters were sitting in an outdoor Chinese tea parlor, and while Dumbledore seemed perfectly calm and rested sipping his tea, his Oriental counterpart found it difficult to keep up the appearance of serenity.

"Perhaps it would be simpler if I got straight to the point." 

Professor Wang was a seemingly ageless man, neither too young nor too old, immaculate in his traditional cheung-sam. He put down his cup and folded his hands carefully in his lap.   
"You are aware, I assume, of the recent projects the Oriental Ministries of Magic have been collaborating on? Especially the ones focused on hybridizing Muggle technology and magic?"

"Yes, why of course. We've had some interesting experiments on our part as well," smiled Dumbledore, "Not that it was smiled upon by our Ministry, but a start all the same."

"I presume you are speaking of the the 'flying car' incident? It caused quite a to-do in your government, so I heard."

"Understatement, Professor Wang. I also must congratulate you on the success of your Muggle-promotion efforts. It's time the magical community learned to be more accepting of their Muggle counterparts."

The other headmaster inclined his head. "Thank you for your high praise. But it is true Muggles are not to be underestimated. On their own, they have already achieved the impossible - international communication, flight and their own version of an Avada Kedavra." 

Dumbledore's keen gaze missed nothing. "And this is what you'd wanted to discuss with me some time ago." 

"They call it 'nuclear power', used to power their 'electrical appliances' that they are so dependent on. And then, there's what they call the 'nuclear bomb', the likes of which would make the Sirius Black incident sound like child's play in comparison. I am speaking of entire cities leveled flat in mere seconds, in a heartbeat's worth of time. Its effects last on through generations in the form of illnesses and mutations.

"Some in my Ministry believe it to be nothing more than a joke, others see it as a potential marketable advantage and the rest are completely ignorant of all this sheer power, content with their pure-blooded heritage and thinking it alone will save them. One can only shudder at the thought of a skilled, powerful wizard using this force combined with magic."

Dumbledore gently interposed, "Are you saying that he would condescend to using their knowledge to further his means?"

Dumbledore's comment only served to discomfort his friend further. "Fear and curiosity make normally sensible people do strange things. I believe the Dark Lord is capable of going any means to rid the world of you out of fear. Out of curiosity, the Ministry and I have cooperated to tap into this Muggle source of power and seal it in a single spell, which could be released all at once with a word."

Professor Wang got up, becoming increasingly more agitated as he spoke and paced the terrace. "It is no longer a piece of Muggle technology, but a spell. Our most skilled Muggle-relation wizards had been involved in the 'magicking' of a nuclear reactor and another, separate nuclear weapons factory. One year ago, the team made an amazing breakthrough of wizardrous manipulation of the power released to destroy. Two months ago, the head wizard on the team disappeared, along with all the relevant and most key documents of the weapon. There have been suggestions that he had been kidnapped, or that he had been a Death Eater all along." 

"This, then, is a disaster not only for the wizarding world, but for all Muggles as well." Dumbledore's face was now grave.

"See where curiosity has led us. The two research bases are now the two most heavily guarded areas in the region and I doubt the wizard or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would return there again to perfect their ultimate weapon. Their best hope is to act quickly and to take over a Muggle organization in control of the resources, materials and that owns an isolated area suitable."

"I have read the report. The most likely option seems to be the Russian multibillionaire currently residing in Siberia, is it not?"

"He is already being carefully guarded by skilled Aurors. But he is not the only option. A certain Japanese company had been in the weapons manufacturing business up until about a few years ago, when it suddenly changed to entertainment industry. I am told most of the previously active military bases have been either shut down or destroyed by the current owner. But it also owns a nuclear-enabled base in Antarctica and that one, to my knowledge, is still active, unbeknownst to the owner."

"And thus, you have sent this person's closest family member to me for protection," finished Dumbledore.

"It was only the thing I could think of to do. You can imagine the pandemonium the Ministry was in - people pointing fingers, accusingdoing everything but acting." The distraught professor finally seated himself again, looking beseechingly at his friend, "There must be something we can do, something to counteract this "

"And there is," said Dumbledore, frowning, "There is. The ultimate defender for the ultimate weapon exists."

The peaceful scene belied the situation the two were discussing. Crickets chirped in a distance as the two respective headmasters finished their tea, contemplating the mess they now faced. After a moment, Professor Wang spoke again.

"How ironic that the very Muggles we still protect now would manage to produce the weapon to destroy us all. I doubt even He Who Must Not Be Named knows the extent of what he can do with it." 

_________________________________________________________________________

A/N: I apologize for the short-ish, seemingly boring and technical chapter. Will get right back to Mokuba, promise. But yeah, the plot is revealed - I always wondered what would become of magic when combined with the technology of today...and yes, you guys DID see Bakura in Diagon Alley last chapter - he comes in much later in the plot, and no, not as a student. Have a tendency to include *all* the familiar YGO characters in tales....

What did you think? Random? That's what my sister (a.k.a. chief fanfic editor) said when she read this...so...?  



	6. On to Hogwarts! Part I

The Weekly Update is here!! So far I've been trying to keep it up regular...yay...even though American Lit. is a pain-in-the-butt...Thank you, all of those whose reviews have made this possible (now I sound like those people that go "And now a word from our sponsor"). And huzzah! The plot is *_not_* too random!!: 

**T.A.O.**: Heh, glad you liked the chapter. I agree, I wanted to do a 'spying-on-adults' scene, but I just didn't see that happening, at least not realistically speaking in this fanfic (heck, fanfics *don't* make sense; am contradicting self again~).  
**Asher Tye**: Kitsune is a good ideaand here I was, considering stuff like hair from the Monkey King (I'm not quite sure what that is in Japaneseit's in Saiyuki I think) or something. I wholeheartedly agree with the Voldemort+A-bomb = horrific disaster thoughYou're good at seeing through plots, you know that? Shhabout the whole Imperius Curse thing.(or maybe the plot's just too obvious)  
**Kaitourei**: "Worthless beta" LMAO I like the title. Wonder what kind of reaction my sister'll have when I start calling her _that_lol. Of course Kaiba's in trouble - but I want to deal with Mokuba's school life first  
**Peter Kim**: Hmmm.the Pegasus, Fudge and Percy thing you're bringing up is interestingmaybe I will put that in, so thanks for that idea~ But as I said, I don't think Duel Monsters are going to be the center around this fic, sorry. I do have a deck, but my dueling skills are near to nil (if not negative) and I just don't think I'm up to writing a proper story with dueling in it. And no, Ryou's not a teacher. But he does show up, later on. 

Thanks too to **Curtis Zidane Ziraa**, **The Mad Tortoise** and **Lily of the Shadow**!! You guys are the best~ 

**MAJOR OC Warning! Red Alert!** These are the chapters where Mokuba starts making new friends in his own year, and thus, inevitably, meets OCs. Also the **SPOILER Warning **is in effect...so beware. 

_Disclaimer:_ Yes! I own it! And now we will have the special 'Let's-Pry-Into-the-YGO-Characters'-Private-Lives' episode!!...**cough** Uh, okay, call off the lawyers, no, I don't. Not for HP either.   


**Muggle Studies **

Ch.6 - On to Hogwarts! (Part I)

He had no idea where the last two weeks of vacation had gone, but before he knew it, Mokuba was attempting to hoist his heavy trunk into the luggage compartment of the Hogwarts Express. Ron and Hermione had already left for the Prefects' Compartment up front, leaving Mokuba to stuggle with the obnoxious trunk on his own. He scowled at the offending piece of luggage. 

"Are you sure you don't need help, Mokuba?" Harry poked his head in. When the younger boy shook his head stubbornly, Harry gave up and said, "Well, whenever you're done, Ginny and I have a compartment further down the train, okay?" He left.

Mokuba gave his trunk his best glare and rolled up his sleeves. "Now it's just you," he grunted as he strained to lift it, "and me." It took a while, but he felt truly accomplished when his trunk was wedged securely in place. Stepping back to survey his handiwork, Mokuba bumped into another student attempting to heft his luggage on board. The other boy lost his balance and his grip on the trunk and fell with a thud. 

"Oy vey," the boy muttered as he got up slowly, rubbing his rear end and straightening his glasses.

"I'm sorrythat was all me. Here, let me help.." Mokuba helped the fallen boy up and together they grabbed the trunk and shoved it into place. They grinned at each other.

"Thanks. I don't think I could've done it on my own." The other boy was slightly taller than Mokuba, his long brown bangs covering his eyes. He stuck out his hand. "The name's Alan Grey. I'm in Gryffindor, second year." 

"I'm Mokuba and say, I'm in second year too. Dunno which house I'm going to be in though." When Alan looked skeptical at this, Mokuba explained, "I'm a transfer, so I haven't been, uh, whatchamacallit"

"Sorted." The other boy nodded, satisfied. "That explains why I don't remember seeing you around last year or anythingI've been wanting to grow my hair out like that too, but my mom keeps cutting it short." He tugged on a long forelock. "At least I got to keep my bangs." 

As they headed out to find their respective compartments, Mokuba noticed something that looked like a playing card on the floor and picked it up.

"Oh, that's mine," Alan said quickly, reaching out for it. "Just a silly card I dropped, nothing more"

"It's Ryu-Kishin, isn't it? A Magic & Wizards cardyou duel?"

"You know what it is?! Wow I can duel, but I'm not really good at it. My step-dad, he's a Muggle and he brought me a deck from a business trip in New York and I got hooked." Alan brightened up at the prospect of having someone to duel with. "Do you play? My friends all think I'm crazy to like a Muggle card game this muchdo you have a deck?"

"Yeah, it's right hereI'm no expert at it either." Mokuba shouldered a small knapsack and the two headed down the train - Mokuba kept his eyes peeled for a noisily hooting miniature furball that would mark Harry's compartment. He grinned at his new friend. "You won't believe how much I've wanted to duel with someone who actually knows the game. I've been trying to teach the people I'm staying with, but that doesn't work too well, especially when you have to split a deck."

Alan sympathized. "Same here with my friendsthey said it wasn't too thrilling when it was just cards."

"Oh I can change that" Mokuba said with a sly smile. "Muggle technology still works on this train, right?"

"Yeah, until it nears Hogwarts" They reached Harry's compartment, where Harry, Ginny and another 6th year were engaged in a game of Exploding Snap. 

"Oh wait, I promised my friends to find their compartment"Alan trailed off, clearly torn between friendship obligations and a chance to see what Mokuba had in store.

"It won't take long to show you, I promise," his companion reassured him as he pushed open the door. 

"What took you so long? I thought the train'd left without you!" Ginny scolded. Introductions were made all around and Mokuba learned that the other 6th-year was one Neville Longbottom. Alan, slightly impressed at finally meeting the famous Harry Potter in person, debated quietly with Mokuba whether he should ask to see the scar?

The two second-years declined joining in the game of Exploding Snap (Ginny's cuffs were smoking around the edges and Neville's round nose sported something that look like a burn) and Mokuba had just begun rummaging in his bag for his deck when Ron and Hermione came in.

"Prefects' meeting over already?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ron flopped onto a seat with a sigh. "Got out of there as soon as I could, like to see you spend more than 5 minutes in a room with Malfoy. Even saw that simpering fan club he's assembled" This was accompanied by a dramatic shudder.

"You would think he'd be less arrogant after his father was thrown into Azkaban, but he seems just as bad - if not worse," Hermione added, disgusted. "Speaking of which, you won't like this one bit Mokuba, but that curly-haired boy you were fighting with in Diagon Alley is here, too."

Mokuba groaned. "Figures."

Alan was just about to ask What fight? when the compartment door slid open again, revealing two less-than-welcome figures: Malfoy, a patronizing hand on his new shadow's shoulder, and the ever-present hulking forms of Crabbe and Goyle. 

"This, Petyr, is the rubbish section of the train," Malfoy said, smirking, "As you can tell from the terrible stench in here." Petyr, well trained in the arts of Draco-worshipping, sniggered on cue. 

Alan had been examining Mokuba's deck and he commented without looking up, "Oh look, it's Goldilocks and the Three Bears!"

"That's a good one," Ron said appreciatively, and turning to Malfoy, "I'd invite you to sit down, Goldilocks, but you might break the chair, see?" 

A tinge of pink appeared on Malfoy's face, but Petyr spoke up first. "You know, in my country, they set aside special schools for the welfare recipients and the 'untouchables' - just so they wouldn't dirty the rest of the population." 

"Gee, if he's Goldilocks and those two hulks are Mama and Papa Bear," Mokuba cracked an evil grin, "That just about makes you Baby Bear doesn't it? Or do you prefer being called Princess Petyr?"

Alan put on a falsetto voice and chimed in. "Petyr, Petyr, let down your curly hair"

When Petyr made as if to continue the fight begun in Diagon Alley, Draco restrained him and hissed, "We fight with more finesse than these, Petyr. Watch and learn." He reached inside his robes for his wand

Two heavy thuds sounded right behind him and Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott were now standing where Crabbe and Goyle had been a moment ago, their wands out and smoking. Malfoy turned back around only to see five more wands pointing at him and Petyr. 

"Clear out, Goldilocks," Harry said with forced calmness, "Or do you want to start the school year looking like you did at the end of the last?" 

Oddly enough, Malfoy just smiled, steered an enraged Petyr out and said sweetly, "I can wait. I, unlike you, have all the time in the world." 

After he and his protégé had left, Ernie closed the door with a click and said, "What in the world was that supposed to mean?"

Harry shook his head. "If he was trying to get me scared, I've heard loads of Muggle movie clichés better than that one. You think he really has got something up his sleeve though?"

Ron snorted. "What were you expecting from him? Forget what's up his sleeve, I can name quite a few things I'd like to stuff up his - "

"RON!"

"What, it's not like these ickle second-years here are innocentsMokuba taught me some good ones in Japanese."

_______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Yep, again, another short-ish chapter, but if I'd uploaded this thing all at once, it'd be way too much (and 'sides, I'm not quite through typing it yet **cough** so much for sisterly help **cough**) And you do learn some pretty bad words just watching the subtitled versions of anime episodes...hehe...

I bet you were wondering when Mokuba would _finally_ head off on the Hogwarts Express...plot is plodding along...slowly....but it'll come... Ron and Hermione do become prefects in book five, just for a FYI and a terrible spoiler-person I am... 


	7. On to Hogwarts! Part II

Yeah, I decided to upload a day early 'cause I have Pre-Cal and Physics-test-from-hell slated soon and don't wanna just leave this typed bit sitting here in the hard drive (lol).... 

And I hereby also apologize: I know you guys are expecting a duel, but know that I know about as much about dueling as the anime/manga show...and I know I'm no good at writing about them. So until I get back from dueling-training school, I'm as good as dueling as, well, Ron is now. Hopefully I'll be able to slip in a duel sometime later (whoo~ Am looking forward to that...)

On to the 'thank-you's:  
**T.A.O**: **cringes** Yeah, okay, lol, I get your point. Plot is plodding on, because I'm having way too much fun filling in Mokuba's Hogwarts life, but believe me, it won't take his older brother too long to get into hot waterand thus hurry along the plotlol. Thanks for your input all this time!  
**Asher Tye**: Yeah, wait til you see how tiny the Duel-thingy isagain, I'm sorry there's no duel as of yet, due to: #1) I can't duel properly myself (yeah, I know **shame on me**) and #2) I haven't decided on what's in Alan's deckand am rather bogged down with homework  
**kauly123**: **takes a deep breath** Yugi, his yami, the two Bakuras, Kaiba, and Joey will all make definite appearances, even though technically Mokuba's the only Hogwarts student. (gosh, the plot-holes I weave to get all of my favorite gang of people in~ ) I love familiar characters.  
**The Mad Tortoise**: Actually I do know which house he's going to be in. But, as a heads-up, the house he should've been in isn't the one he ends up going to. **grins** I don't mind your questions!!  
**Kaitourei**: Gah, I hate writer's block toohope you get out of it soon, 'cause I'm waiting for your next installment! Glad you liked the piclol, I get drawing when I run into the dreaded Block. 

Thanks also to **crimson89**, **Tomgirl27** (Mokuba's my favorite to write, but I'm afraid I'm an all-out Seto-freak~), **Curtis Zidane Ziraa**,** Sarah**, **kaylie** (Make that _Yami_ Malik worshipper and I'll join you), and **Lily of the Shadow**!   


MAJOR MAJOR OC WARNING!!(yep, they just keep multiplying~) and SPOILER WARNING!! as we near Hogwarts...

_Disclaimer_: Konami, the creator of YGO and J.K. Rowling apparently do ** _NOT_** take imaginary cash. Pity. 

**Muggle Studies **

Ch.7 - On to Hogwarts! (Part II) _a.k.a. Meet the OC's_

Ginny and the 6th years sat down to another round of Exploding Snap and Mokuba unfolded something that looked like an ordinary dueling mat. To Alan's questioning look, he said, "You'll see." 

He placed his deck in the deck zone and motioned for Alan to do the same. When Alan complied, ripples of light glided over the mat's surface. 

Alan grinned. "I can tell this is going to be good. Duel!"

"It gets better," Mokuba said, drawing his first hand, "You go first." 

Alan placed one card face down, played Hitasume Giant(1) in defense mode and gasped when a small, holographic Hitasume Giant appeared hovering above the card on the field. "Blimey," he said, his eyes shining behind his glasses, "This is like one of those dueling arenas in miniature!"

Next to them, the Exploding Snap game ground to a halt as its players crowded around the 2nd-years for a better look. 

"I've never seen anything like this," Harry finally said. "Was this the card game you were trying to teach us?"

"Brilliant," Ron breathed, poking the mat. "Why didn't you dig this out before? I might've learnt how to play by now!"

Ginny peered at the game from between Harry and Neville. "Dad would've had a field trip with that - that contraption." 

The door then slid open for what seemed like the umpteenth time on this train ride, and two unfamiliar voices said, "Hey Alan, where've you been - cool, what is that?!"

Alan turned, sheepish, and motioned for his two friends to come in. "Sorry, I kinda got carried awayGuys, this is Mokuba, and Mokuba, this is Euan Abercrombie(2)," the taller, more freckled of the two stuck out his hand, "and this is Howard Fletcher." The tanned boy with a mass of wiry-looking black hair and equally dark eyes grinned at him, revealing buck teeth. 

"Are you all in Gryffindor?" 

"No, just Alan and me," Euan said, settling himself near the action, "Chip here is in Ravenclaw."

"Chip?"

The darker boy grinned even wider. "A prefect called me Chipmunk last year and the name stuck. 'Sides, I like it better than Howard. My brutally honest friends say they can see the resemblance." 

"I thought Alan here told me you two don't duel" Mokuba began questioningly.

Alan shrugged. "They don't."

" - Alan ran out of patience long before we could manage to get it.." Euan explained, earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs. 

" - Oh shut it. They don't, but they like reading about the tournaments and stuff in magazines."

"We're both half-and-half, that's how we get the magazines," Chip added. He too prodded the dueling mat. "I've seen the big dueling arenas, but not this - where'd you buy it?"

"It's not in stores, at least, not yet anyway." Mokuba couldn't help feeling a little proud. "My brother came up with it after the bigger dueling arenas hit the mainstream and let me test this one out."

" 'Came up with it'? You're joking right?"

"Hang on," Alan frowned, "What'd you say your last name was?"

"I didn't. It's Kaiba. I'm Mokuba Kaiba." Mokuba shifted uncomfortably. These people were bound to know who he was now.   
All three of the 2nd -year boys stared at him. The older ones just looked confused. 

"I don't get it, what's the big deal about his name?" Neville asked. Hermione looked thoughtful for a while and was about to answer his question when Mokuba caught her eye and mouthed a hasty No. The last thing he needed was to go to a new school with everyone knowing he was a rich brat, least of all Ron and Ginny. 

"Then - then your brother must be" spluttered Alan. 

" - Seto Kaiba, right?" Chip finished. 

"Wow._the_ Seto Kaiba is your brother" Euan said in awe. "Way cool."

"Anytime you midgets feel like explaining," Ron said, annoyed. "Anytime now."

Euan turned to Ron with a look of horror on his face. "Seto Kaiba is _only _one of the best duelists in the world, _and_ the international champion(3) to boot." 

"Well, technically, that Yugi Mutou kid beat him - twice, I think, but the title's still his," mused Alan.

"Oh, so he's some kind of star in the Muggle world," Ernie translated.

Mokuba fidgeted. "Well, not really"

"What d'you mean, not really?" protested Euan indignantly. 

Chip put in his bit, ticking off the duels he remembered. "He dueled with Pegasus - the creator of the game to you guys - at Duelist Kingdom, didn't he? At least that's what they said"

"Yeah, he did," Mokuba said shortly when everyone looked at him for confirmation. "I was at Duelist Kingdom." As a prisoner of that said freak first in an actual prison, then his soul imprisoned in a card. Not some of the best memories of his life. Alan was about to ask about Duelist Kingdom when Mokuba said firmly, "I don't really want to talk about it, okay?" The three boys swallowed down their questions and nodded. 

Harry broke in. "Could you teach me how to duel again using this, Mokuba? That holograph-thing looks seriously neat."

"Yeah, I promise I'll actually pay attention this time," Ron cajoled.

Hermione sighed. "Well, you've got to give him some credit for being honest."

The rest of the group professed a (renewed for some) desire to learn as well, and most of the train ride passed in a flurry of Duel Monster names, confusions between Magic and Trap cards ("Honestly, how do you shrimps keep them straight?") and the lunch trolley. When the holographs started flickering, they knew they were nearing Hogwarts. 

Ernie heaved himself up and brushed some of the pumpkin pastry crumbs off. "Well, it's been real nice seeing all of you again, but we'd better get going."

"Yeah, us too," Chip agreed. "Alan, some of your stuff is still with us in our compartment."

"See you when we get off then, Mokuba. Hope you're in Gryffindor too," Alan called out as his friends dragged him away. 

Once they were gone, Ernie lowered his voice a bit and asked, "Harry, I don't know who the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher is this year, but is the DA(4) going to continue meeting?"

When Mokuba looked puzzled, Hermione explained, "We had a, let's say, utterly terrible DADA teacher last year, so we kind of met in secret to let Harry teach us stuff. It's called the DA, for Defense Association - "

" - or Dumbledore's Army."

Harry just frowned. "Er - well"

"I've still got that Galleon Hermione gave us to tell when to meet," Ginny said quietly. 

Neville added, "So've I, and Harry, you rank right up there with Lupin."

When Harry's face flushed, Hannah Abbott said, "He's right you know."

"Well you think about it then, and the rest of us will be watching our Galleons, so to speak," Ernie said, slapping Harry on the back.

"Uhm, Ernie? Can I ask you a question?" Mokuba asked.

Ernie paused, half-way opening the door. "Go on then."

"You got the weirdest look whenever Chip's name was mentioned - look, there you go again"

"I, er, well, the thing is," Ernie looked thoroughly flustered, and finally said in a small voice, "_I_ called him Chipmunk last year." 

_____________________________________________________________________________

(1) I think this is how you spell it...In the Japanese version, they call it "Cyclops"...so....sp?

(2) Yep, he may be an OC I've taken over, but 'Abercrombie, Euan' is an actual name of a first year in book five (he was the first one to be Sorted into Gryffindor, making him a second year now, which is perfect...). 'Howard Fletcher, aka Chip' is all mine though...nyah. Authoress license! lol...

(3) I'm not sure about this title either...I mean, all Yugi got was 'King of Games', right??

(4) Another major spoiler: The DA is like this after-class, hands-on Defense-Against-Dark-Arts learning club, led by Harry. Begun in the fifth book, and continued here by me~

_______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Yes!! Yes!! Mokuba WILL reach Hogwarts next chapter, no problems! Am still working on his Sorting though...The next long bit of Mokuba's Hogwarts life will be around him and his classes and friends, so Harry and Co. will not be figuring in as much (sadly, yes...)

Imagine what'd happen if suddenly one day, some new kid you meet at school blurts to you that his older brother is Seto Kaiba...whoo! **dreamily**

~benign sadist~  



	8. Cuckoo

Gah, did this chapter give me a tough time. Ran into a Dreaded Block when I realized I was missing this bit...so I know, I know, this part sounds rather strange and out of place. But believe me, as random as everything may seem, they do link up. Eventually. 

AAaaand thanks to:  
**The Mad Tortoise**, **Curtis Zidane Ziraa**, **Shi-koi** and **kaylie**, you guys really rock~ ^________^  
**Asher Tye**: I would say Mokuba *finally* made it Hogwarts, lol, but you brought up a nice point about Mokuba meeting Hagrid **hits herself on the head for not thinking of this one**but since Mokuba doesn't have Hagrid's class, that might be tricky - but I really want to squeeze it in now~ Thanks!  
**T.A.O.**: No, you're not annoying at all! It's just that I'm having waayy too much fun doing this slowly and trying to stuff Mokuba into the Hogwarts-student-mode. I think what you should expect is Seto's reaction to being "owled"  
**Tomgirl27**: I'm guessing Mokuba would know what had happened after his soul got "carded" because Yugi and Co., as his friends, would've told him, and I think his brother would have mentioned those events here and there as well (less likely though, Kaiba's our Denial candidate).   
**Kaitourei:** Gosh, everyone's going to be disappointed because Mokuba's going to end up in the very house everyone expects him to be inbut there is _somewhat _of a twist. And homework's piling up by the truckload on my end too. I've developed a rather useful talent of ignoring it. Eek. Good luck though~   


**SPOILER WARNING!!** As always...spoilers for the YGO Battle City arc in here too....aaandd the **OC warning**. But that goes without saying, right?

_Disclaimer_: Nope, nope and nope. **sighs** I don't even own the password into the common rooms, isn't that sad?

**Muggle Studies **

Ch.8 - Cuckoo

"Giant squid. He said he fell into the lake and nearly got eaten by a giant squid."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, that would be Dennis Creevey. And yeah, there _is_ a giant squid in that lake. Wonder what's for supper, I'm getting hungry."

The Great Hall was always a spectacular sight, especially when one walks in at the exact same time the floating candles got lit in the blaze of the setting sun. Mokuba found himself craning his neck to get a better look at, well, just about everything - from the teachers' table (who _was_ that huge giant of a man with what seemed like a furry tie around his neck?) to the gently swaying chandeliers, and finally, to the ceiling that reflected the sunset outside. 

"Eh, how long do you plan on standing in the middle of the entrance gawping at the ceiling?" Ron grinned. "We would like to sit down now, considering you stood there staring at the outside for as long as you did"

"Oh, yeahit's justwow, what's it like, having classes in an ancient castle?"

"Not as cool as it sounds, believe me."

Once seated, Hermione proceeded to explain everything in the Great Hall to him. "That's Hagrid, he's the professor for the Care of Magical Creatures, but you won't get that class until next yearand that's Nearly Headless Nick"

"Hagrid 'Nearly Headless Nick'", Mokuba said faintly, trying to remember everything his older friends were shooting at him. "We had ghosts - spirits actually - in my old schoolbut we were always warned to be respectful and wary of them - 'Nearly Headless Nick'?!" 

"Yeah, the names help you remember which one's which, see, that chubby one over there is the Fat Friar" Ron contributed helpfully to Mokuba's Hogwarts education. 

"So let me see if I got this right: there are four houses - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Huff-and-Puff"

"Hufflepuff, Mokuba."

"Right. So how do you know which you belong to? Alan told me something about a 'sorting'?"

Harry chuckled at Mokuba's slightly overwhelmed look. "Look, don't worry; it's not a test of your skill or anythingyou just put on a hat"

"A singing hat," Ginny put in.

"Yeah, a singing hat, and then it just tells you which House you belong in. That's all." 

Mokuba sighed in relief. Weirder things had happened. "When do I get sorted?"

Hermione looked around. "Well, there's the first-years already, but that's Professor Grubbly-Plank leading them - that's strange, usually it's McGonagall - oh, hello Professor!"

A short, beaming man smiled up at all of them. "Hello, Miss Granger, and how've you been?"

She had just been about to tell him all about the results of her research on the combinations of charms and transfiguration spells when Harry and Ron cut in. "Er, say Professor Flitwick, would you know who the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher is?" 

"Afraid I don't, but Dumbledore interviewed someone just a month ago," Flitwick replied, as cheerful as ever. Turning to Mokuba, he said, "Mr. Kaiba, right? Professor McGonagall asked me to escort you to see her - I believe she wants to talk to you. Don't worry; I'll have someone see you back here." 

Mokuba got up. "Uh, okay, uhm, Professor"

"Flitwick." 

"Professor Flitwick."

As they left the bustling Hall, Mokuba could hear Ron yelling out "Relax, Flitwick won't eat you - watch out for Snape though!" 

______________________________

After a series of twisting, turning corridors, trick staircases and funny doors, they finally reached what seemed to be the Hogwarts staff room. Professors were going in and out, some looking frazzled already, but most just anticipating yet another school year. Out of the corner of his eye, Mokuba could've sworn he saw Princess Petyr snooping about, but he was having a habit of seeing odd things lately

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick. Mr. Kaiba, if you would come this way?" A tall, thin, strict-looking woman with spectacles on her nose swept out and led him down the hall to a smaller, quieter room to a side. The room looked like it hadn't been used for some time, and there was a stack of bags and crates on the floor as if someone was in the process of moving in. 

The strict woman sat down at a desk and motioned for Mokuba to sit on the other side. "Let me introduce myself: I am Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Since Professor Dumbledore is away at this moment, I welcome you to Hogwarts in his place. I assume you have gotten all the necessary supplies and books with no trouble?"

Mokuba unhinged his mouth. "No, ma'am." In his career as a student, teachers like these knew what they were doing and it was usually best if you kept on their good side. 

"Just 'Professor' will do, Mr. Kaiba. Now, there are four Houses in Hogwarts"

"Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff," Mokuba rattled off. "Professor," he added as an afterthought. 

McGonagall eyed him shrewdly. "Very well. I see that you are already aware of that fact. All that remains now is to decide which house you belong in. Since the first years are already using the Sorting Hat, and Dumbledore told me he didn't want you to be Sorted along with them, we'll have to use this." 

From her robe pocket she fished out what looked like a clock. On closer inspection however, the clock face only had one hand, and there were no numbers at all on the face, just four marks at equal intervals. There was a small door below the clock face, and a key on the back, like the ones on the backs of the wind-up toys. 

"This, Mr. Kaiba, is the early version of the Sorting Hat. It's not that hard to use: you wind up the key in the back until you hear a click." 

She had just handed the boy the 'clock' when an exasperated-looking professor poked her head in. "Minerva, would you mind coming down to the kitchens with me for a minute? Peeves is raising the worst sort of racket among the elves and I can't find the Bloody Baron anywhere"

"I'll be right with you. Mr. Kaiba, I'll leave you here with this just for a minute. Don't go anywhere if you don't want to get lost." She left a rather bewildered Mokuba staring at the 'clock' in his hands. 

Okay, it's just winding up a clocksure, a bit more work than putting on a hat, but not too bad. Mokuba began winding up the 'clock'. It took a while before a clearly audible click was heard, and the entire thing began whirring.

He was wondering whether he should put the thing down or not when all of a sudden the door on the bottom flung open, and a fuzzy, yellow bird popped out, screeching "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Mokuba dropped the thing in surprise. The bird, or whatever it was, just continued screeching "HUFFFLEPUFF!" To the boy's horror, it detached itself from the clock and proceeded to scuttle across the room until it reached a bag that was half open. "Hufflepuff," it crooned, softer now. Then it began attacking the bag, trying to rip it up. "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

"Hey you, stop that, she's going to come back and blame me - stop it!" Mokuba cast about and found a grimy feather duster that he jabbed at the irate bird-thing. The 'bird' backed away, its voice back to screeching level. In poking at the 'bird' though, he accidentally caused the stuff in the bag to come tumbling out. 

A set of scales. 

It was the kind for measuring out Potion ingredients, and it looked awfully ancient...and Mokuba knew he had seen that eye symbol somewhere before. Egyptian, wasn't it? He picked it up to put it back in the bag (the bird was now muttering 'Hufflepuff' in a cranky voice). Light glinted off the eye on the golden scale and caught Mokuba's gaze.

- Do you think your heart passes judgment, boy?

Mokuba jumped back, recovered, and laughed shakily at himself. "Hahajust hearing voices"

- Put your heart on the scales and see.

Suddenly he got the exact same suffocating, dark feeling he'd had when he'd been stuck in a card by Pegasus. Just utter, smothering emptiness and darkness. So dark that he couldn't tell if he had his eyes open or notso oppressive that even if he could yell, he wouldn't be able to hear himself and he'd know no one would be able to hear him.

- Fears will weigh your heart down and you have many fears.

- You're afraid of failing. Failing your older brother. 

An image of Pegasus trapping his brother in a card floated in front of him. He'd never witnessed this, but from what Yugi and Jounouchi had told himhe'd failed Seto then. He'd let Pegasus use him to lure his nii-sama

He couldn't even wiggle his fingers anymore, which frustrated him and terrified him to a high degree. Then, a series of voices, as if in a conversation floated by his ear.

_"They say Slytherin's the house for dark wizards, but at least they're smart. Hufflepuff is a house for the losers." _

_"The famous Harry Potter's in Gryffindor, and everyone knows Dumbledore loves that house the best. Ravenclaw's for the geniuses though."_

_"I hope I get into Gryffindor, but yeah, rather Slytherin than Hufflepuff." _

_"Everyone knowseveryone knows"_

  
Hufflepuff. Was that the house he'd gotten into? No one had told him this about the house. Mokuba recalled the idiotic bird hopping around screaming "HUFFLEPUFF" at him and suddenly felt slightly enraged at this. Were they trying to say that he hadn't been good enough to get into Gryffindor? Or smart enough to get into Ravenclaw? 

Seto placed a lot on whether someone was a winner or a loser. Take Jounouchi for example. He knew his brother had a lot higher expectations of him than thatand he had nearly failed Seto at Battle City during the duel against Noa, not to mention Duelist Kingdom 

A jabbing pain in his shoulder caused him to blink, and he forced his eyes open (although he'd been pretty sure they already were). The idiot bird was now pecking furiously on his shoulder and the room came back into focus, much to Mokuba's relief. 

Get a grip on yourself, Mokuba, he reasoned to himself, forcefully pushing away any lingering self-doubts and tearing his gaze away from the scales. "I shouldn't be in Hufflepuff" he thought aloud instead. "There must've been something wrong with the clock-thing" Mokuba turned and gave the yellow bird a predatory glance. Sensing that Mokuba wished to force it to say "GRYFFINDOR", the bird let out a terrified squawk and led the boy around the room in a mad chase.

"Come here, you -thing- I need to redo that whole winding-the-clock process again." Mokuba shoved the scales back into the bag and leapt after the scuttling bird.   
He had just caught the bird when McGonagall came back in, holding what seemed to be a raggedy hat and wearing a disapproving look. 

"I -uh, Professor I can explain"

"No need, Mr. Kaiba. I'll take this" McGonagall took the bird from his hand and firmly shoved it back into the clock, where muffled sounds could still be heard. "I suppose there was a reason why it's no longer used; that's all it's been screeching for years. Here, try the Sorting Hat on."

Mokuba took a shaky breath, and put it on, hoping that it wouldn't trigger anything like that weird scales hallucination.

_Oh, my. You're a tense one, aren't you?_

Another talking object! He was about ready to scream in frustration. Just sort me, please, just sort me and I really want to be in Gryffindor. Actually any house but Hufflepuff

_Any house but Hufflepuff? But you're suited to that one - you're a loyal, steady, determined worker_

Really. Any house but Hufflepuff. Please? 

_Well_

Look, so much as whisper Hufflepuff and I'll rip you up. Any other one.

_If you insist, although threats aren't the best way to get things, take it from me. I'd say this one's better as your second choice but GRYFFINDOR IT IS !_

The last phrase was shouted aloud by the hat, and McGonagall whisked it off his head as soon as the words were out of its 'mouth'. 

"I am also the head of House Gryffindor, so I'm warning you here that you'd better behave yourself this year, Mr. Kaiba." McGonagall peered with uncharacteristic concern at him. "Are you alright? You look rather pale."

Mokuba shook himself out of it and tried to put on a 'bright-eyed, bushy-tailed' look. "No, professor, I'm fine, really."

McGonagall gave him a skeptical glance, but nodded briskly. "Mr. Davies, take Mr. Kaiba back to the Great Hall, would you?" 

On the trip back to the Hall, he couldn't help but feel that he'd just cheated his way into Gryffindor. 

_________

"Oh look, there he isHey Mokuba, over here!"

"Sowhat did McGonagall say? Are you in Gryffindor?" Alan and Euan were standing by the Fat Lady's portrait that also served as the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, waiting to give their new friend the password. When Mokuba didn't answer immediately, Alan quickly said, "Well, Ravenclaw thenat least you could've made it in with Chip"

They'll never know how close I was to not 'making it' with any of thembut Mokuba shoved that thought away too and flashed the two a thumbs-up. "No worries there! I'm in Gryffindor!"

"Brilliant!" Euan slapped a high-five with Mokuba. "Let's go in and show you where our room is then. Argelfraster." 

The Fat Lady's portrait swung open to reveal a cozy, warm common room, where other fellow Gryffindors were still milling about. 

"Ah, home sweet home," Alan sighed. "I do miss this place."

"Come on, I bet your trunk's there already and everything - move faster, will you?" Euan pushed on a wooden panel over the fireplace and a door swung open. Mokuba walked in and saw a brightly-lit corridor with doors lining either side. 

"Room's at the very end of the corridor," Alan said. "The sixth-years have the turret rooms, but we still have somewhat of a view. You can almost see the giant squid from here on good days."

The dorm room was decked out in the Gryffindor red-and-gold and 5 canopied beds were at the very center, fanning outwards. Two of the beds already had owners who introduced themselves as Emrys and Roger. Mokuba quickly located his bed with his trunk in front of it and the five chattered away until a very annoyed Ron told them to put a cork in it.

"Believe me, you shrimps will be wishing you'd gotten more sleep come tomorrow," he growled as he shut their door. 

A comfortable hush fell over the darkened room, broken by Mokuba voicing the other question that had been bothering him for a while. "Are classes really that bad?"

"Well, it depends" Emrys said in mid-yawn. 

"Some of the teachers are all right"

"others are axe-wielding psychos."

Alan's voice said, "You'll survive to suffer another day, I promise. _We_ did."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Eh, a long chappie to make up for the last two rather short ones...hope you guys are satisfied (lol). And the password into the common room comes from the 'Enchanted Forest Chronicles' by Patricia C. Wrede - it was a word used to melt wizards (rather ironic, but I just thought 'Argelfraster' had a funny ring to it~) 

Classes...classes coming next chapter...I expect some of my own homework frustrations are going to run over into this tale...lol. 


	9. Settling In

**Bangs head repeatedly against the wall** Bad authoress, bad authoress!!

Okay, after that Dobby-inspired self-punishment, here's the update! Sorry for the delay, I guess there's only so long you can flee from school stuff...**grimaces** Plus I was wondering whether I should change anything, but that's aside the point. Here's the story though!

Thanks to.  
**T.A.O.**: Hmm 'Sorting Clock' _was_ pretty random, I admit, but better sounding than my original idea of 'Sorting Helm'. The cuckoo was supposed to come in later on, and besides, Mokuba is kind of like the 'cuckoo' in Gryffindor, don't you think?   
Nope, Shadi's not the DADAhowever he will pop up later on in regard to the DADA teacher  
**Asher Tye**: Difference is, Harry belonged in Gryffindor, and his Slytherin side came from contact with Voldemort (I think, I'm no expert) Yeah, the password's from that book!! **beams** Yes, I'm childish.  
**The Mad Tortoise**: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles do rock! Lolokay, will outgrow them ASAPor maybe not  
**TobyKikami**: My take on it is, I hate the fact that Hufflepuff is so stepped on. And yeah, you've hit on something; not all Slytherins stink. **hint hint?**  
**crimson89**: Wow, thanks~ Talk about an enthusiastic reviewer ^________^ That is a tempting idea, to have Hogwarts girls realize Krum isn't the best looking guy around **cough** but I haven't written up to that yetrest assured it's lurking somewhere there though!

and last but definitely not least, thanks also to **Curtis Zidane Ziraa**, **Tomgirl27**, **kaylie** and **Kate Crawford**~

**WARNING**: **OCs and SPOILERS!! OCs and SPOILERS!!** Am beginning to sound like a broken record

_Disclaimer_: **waves white flag at the lawyers** I give in! I don't own 'em! Neither of them!   


**Muggle Studies **

Ch.9 - Settling In

It wasn't as bad as Mokuba had feared at all. Oddly enough, his biggest problem had little to do with getting to and from classes (it helped when all your friends were veterans at finding their way around), or that the material would be too hard for him to handle, or the teachers, even. It was getting used to the professors calling him "Mr. Kaiba". Usually, "Mr. Kaiba" meant Kaiba Seto and not the younger Kaiba, and so Mokuba would respond only when someone poked him in the back, kicked his chair, or if the said professor stuck his/her face right in front of his. As expected, this did not leave a very good impression of him on his teachers, who either thought he had trouble learning (Professor Flitwick kindly spoke slowly for Mokuba's benefit) or that he was impertinent (Professor Sprout glared beadily at him for the entire first week). 

Potions was easily Mokuba's best subject, being similar to the Oriental medicine-brewing he'd had to do last year. He'd been rather dreading Snape's class after hearing Harry and Ron's horror stories about the biased, sadistic teacher, but since they had Potions with Ravenclaw, Snape didn't have much of a chance to be biased (Mokuba chalked this down to the absence of Harry). He figured that Snape wouldn't jump down his throat if he did everything right and kept to the back of the room. Unfortunately, if there was a Harry equivalent among the Gryffindor second-years, it was Alan. Snape seemed to bounce off all his potential attacks on Harry off Mokuba's friend, who assured him it was traditional for the Potions master to pick one Gryffindor out of every year that he taught for especial torture, and he was proud to be the chosen sacrificial lamb. And then Euan would give him a mock punch and tell him to quit the melodramatic business already, would he? 

Charms went pretty well; Flitwick slowing down gave Mokuba a chance to see where everyone was. He also discovered he was downright awful at Transfiguration for some reason, and McGonagall cut her new transfer student no slack. Herbology with the Slytherins was little short of a nightmare, seeing as Professor Sprout already had him marked as a 'cheeky, impudent' student and Petyr and his troupe of pals did little to improve the class. Mokuba and his friends found learning about the harmful side effects of the greenhouse plants much easier after having experienced and used them firsthand. Preferably on their Slytherin rivals. 

Defense Against Dark Arts was a huge let-down, more so because this was the class Hogwarts was famous for, and the one Mokuba had been so looking forward to. Apparently, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in a turban, a blond handsome fake, a werewolf, an Auror-who-wasn't-really-an-Auror, and a coughing lady that started her own Nazi regime in that order had been the previous DADA teachers and the second years were really psyched to see what kind of horror Dumbledore would hire next. 

Were they in for a surprise. 

Professor Wendell looked and sounded like the Binns equivalent - the key characteristic both teachers shared being 'sleep-inducing'. The guy looked like a perfectly normal grampa: potbelly, bushy eyebrows and tuft of white hair poking out of his ridiculously out-dated hat. He even taught the lessons as if he were reading fairy tales to a gaggle of grandkids. You almost expected him to start the lesson with "Once upon a time, there was a banshee". The only thing vaguely interesting about him was his strange habit of bringing his own teapot and teacup to class. Every five minutes, without fail (Mokuba timed him), he would pause, pour himself a cuppa, down it all in one smooth, grampa-ish sip, replace the cup and resume teaching. His friends figured it was some kind of alcoholic drink, or as the Muggle-borns said, he must be addicted to something in that teapot. Mokuba could've sworn he was sitting back in a Muggle classroom. The only difference was that Wendell didn't believe in homework. Muggle teachers did. Wendell was instantly popular. 

According to Ron, Wendell was weird because he was the first normal DADA teacher in 6 years, due to what he dubbed the "Harry Potter Curse". This didn't stop Mokuba and friends from signing up immediately for the DA, wanting some hands-on learning. 

The three - Mokuba, Euan and Alan - ran into somewhat of a homework problem a mere month into the semester, starting from when Ginny and Hermione began refusing to go over every single bit of homework with them ("They caught on to my 'play dumb' act", Euan muttered apologetically.). This snag was solved when Alan suggested they divvy up the assignments, each do a third and copy the rest. The enthusiastic Euan took the solution a step further and soon Mokuba found himself in a homework army consisting of most of his year. At its peak, the homework pool had over 35 members and it fell apart soon after, due to the difficulty of dividing an assignment into 1/35ths. An outraged Hermione in her role as a prefect also had something to do with it, and the three decided to keep their homework pool to themselves. 

_____________________

Alan, Euan, and Mokuba were now near inseparable, and one fall morning found them in the Great hall, munching on toast and discussing the Quidditch match of yesterday (Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin) animatedly. 

"I swear, that Slytherin seeker pulls so many foul stunts I wonder why they're still letting him play," complained Euan. 

Alan polished his glasses and said thoughtfully, "Of course he paid his way in. D'you really think they'd let Goldilocks fly otherwise?"

"Pity the Princess Petyr didn't do the same," Mokuba said, generously slopping marmalade onto his toast, "I kinda wanted him to play - and watch him fall off his broom or something."

"Yeah, that Bubotuber pus in your stuff was really low," Euan put in, "But then you'd want to play. You'd want to be the one knocking him off."

"It's Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw next," Alan sighed. "I hate it when Chip and I disagree."

A flutter of wings distracted Mokuba and he look up to see a school owl and Hedwig both waiting for him to take his letters. 

"Thanks, both of you," he said, offering them both some orange juice. "Tell Harry I said thanks for the loan, okay Hedwig?" The snowy owl bobbed her head once and went to greet her owner before heading back to the Owlery. 

"Who're they from? If you don't mind my asking," Euan inquired.

Alan snorted. "It's obvious you don't mind." 

"My brother and a friend of mine, back in Japan," Mokuba said absently, opening the one that was written on Kaiba Corp. stationary. It was covered in his brother's precise, neat Japanese and Mokuba laughed at the image the first sentence evoked.

_I don't care how quaint these people are, the bird refused to leave me alone until I wrote you a reply. What kind of backwards world is this academy of yours in anyway? This better not happen when I'm in the middle of a conference._

_I doubt you'd want to know how Kaiba Corp. is doing. I'm beginning to see why you wanted to study abroad; school here is an immeasurable waste of my time, and the students and teachers alike are unqualified, blithering idiots. I suppose you'd be happy to know Yugi and that makeinu friend of his are in my class again. Yugi has been rather annoying of late. It's pathetic when even the makeinu gets the message that I don't want to socialize.   
Take care of yourself and don't worry about me. I've given you ample money to keep yourself out of trouble. _

_Seto_

"Blimey, he doesn't say much, does he?" Alan squinted at the formal, succinct letter. Mokuba just smiled and folded the letter away. To get his nii-sama, one had to read between the lines. He picked up the other, slightly messier letter scribbled on some sort of colorful stationary. 

_Mokuba-kun,  
Hope you're having fun at your school! England must be wonderful. Jounouchi-kun and everyone is in my class - even your brother - and I'm glad I know most everybody. Bakura-kun, remember him? the quiet one with long white hair? He switched out of our school a week into the semester, Jou said his archaeologist father picked him up. My other self is relieved that he no longer has to deal with the tomb robber, but I kind of miss him, both of him.   
I've been doing my best to get Kaiba-kun involved in some of the fun things the gang and I have been planning, but with no success. The only times he's willing to join us are when my other self challenges him to a duel or somethingI think he misses you pretty bad. Otherwise he seems okayYou know, I never noticed his strange reaction to birds flying overhead before  
But enough about me, how've you been doing? What kind of classes do you have, they've got to be more interesting than the ones here. I love the owl that delivered the letter. The other me had a bit of a heart attack when he saw a dark shape pummeling my window the night it arrived. I'm glad you've found new friends and people to duel with too! Maybe you could invite them over during the summer.   
The other me, Anzu, Jou and Honda all say hi, and I also sent you some rice sweets - do you have any of those where you are?  
Don't let bullies and mean teachers get you down!  
Your friend,_

_Yugi _

_P.S. Is there such a thing as overloading an owl? I'm wondering how big of a package I can send you_

"Hey Mokuba, what's this?" Euan was shaking a flat box Hedwig had dropped off along with the letter. Mokuba opened the box and split the Japanese sweets with his friends.

Poor Yugi was trying so hard to be his brother's keeper and Seto was doing his best to make it all the more difficult for him. He laughed then, suddenly realizing he was the only one who saw both sides of the situation.

"Mokuba. Knuckle-head. Snap out of it," Alan said, taking the box away from him. "Sugar makes you waayy too hyper."

"Say, can you write your friends to send more of these things?" Euan added, swiping the box in turn from Alan. 

______________

Jounouchi waited until Kaiba had left the game shop before rounding on his shorter friend. "There something going on here, Yugi. I mean, you already go out of your way to be nice to that stuck-up snob, but this year you've just been" The tall blonde gestured around for lack of the appropriate adjective. "Yugi, you invited him to your Gramps birthday party for crying out loud!"

Yugi put away his treasured deck carefully in the box that had once held the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle. "I just thought he might be lonely and all, with only his company and stuff"

His taller friend ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "He doesn't want to be your friend, my friend, or anybody else's friend for that matter. Thank kami-sama he didn't even bother to come. He literally gave your Gramps a heart attack the last time he was here - why are you doing this?" He narrowed his eyes. "Come to think of it, what do you mean by 'with only his company'? Where's Mokuba? And weren't you writing a letter to him just a few days ago?"   
  
"I wonder why he didn't pull a Blue-Eyes Ultimate on me." Yugi mused over the latest duel with Kaiba, apparently oblivious to the increasingly agitated Jounouchi. "He always gets a Blue-Eyes or three when he wants them."

"Yeah, that toosince when did the - the, uh, 'other you' ever challenged Kaiba to a duel? As I remember it, it's usually the other way around. Kaiba'd host an entire tournament just to get at you -you two. Now? Both of you have been challenging him on a weekly basis. If that doesn't sound wrong then tell me what is!"

- I have to agree, Yami commented from his soul room. I can't believe you talked me into that.

You have no right to complain, his hikari retorted, I wasn't the only one who promised Mokuba.

- You owe our friend an explanation then. Look at him, he thinks Kaiba's been blackmailing you or bullying you.

Yugi sighed. "Jounouchi-kun, if I tell you this, can you promise not to tell anyone - and I mean anyone - else? Not to Anzu, not to Honda, not even to your sister. Can you?"

Jou stared. "He _is _threatening you - blackmailing you - why is your- your Yami? just letting him?"

"He's not. I would not if he were. But he's not." Yami materialized beside Jounouchi, leaning against the counter. "He's probably as in the dark as you are."

The blond nearly jumped out of his skin. "Man, don't do thatthis 'other Yugi' business takes some time to get used to, you know? Sheesh" When he recovered, he said, "I promise. Cross my heart and all that. Now spill."

Yugi told him about how he and Yami promised to watch over Kaiba for Mokuba, since the younger Kaiba was now studying abroad in England, conveniently leaving out the bit about the school of magic. They figured they'd explain when that time came. 

Jou drummed his fingers on the counter top. "So, the bottom line is, you're babysitting that hotshot CEO for his younger brother."

Why did it always have to come to this? Yugi sighed. "Not really."   
At the same time, Yami said "Yes" in a long-suffering tone.  
The hikari gave up. "Alright, so we're babysitting him. I've been trying to get him to do more stuff with us because less than a month after his brother left, he's in another mess. I heard him talking on that phone of his and it definitely sounds like he's being threatened. If someone's after him, they're less-"

"Less likely to attack him if you're there? Sure...that's really going to work. Why didn't you tell me Kaiba was in _trouble_?" Jounouchi shook his head. "I won't tell if you let me in on the scheme."

"I only got a vague idea that Kaiba was uneasy about something. You've been keeping secrets, aibou." Yami tilted his head to look at his other self. "You didn't write this to Mokuba."

"Of course not! The last thing I want is for him to worry himself sick over thereand he's been through enough already."

Jounouchi grabbed his friend by the shoulders and gave him a little shake. "You can't save the world on your own, you know. Yami or no Yami."

Yami raised an eyebrow at this but let it slide.

"No, for situations like this, you need the grrreat Jounouchi Katsuya!"

Both Yugis sighed.

"Been watching the 'Frosted Flakes' commercial too much, haven't you"

"What? Are you implying that I'm useless? Or not grrreat enough?"

"Okay, okay, Jou-kun, just remember to keep it down, alright?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Yeah...another nice longish chapter...As you can see, I like keeping all the characters in here (can't figure out how to fit in the Ishtars in though!) Next chapter might be quite a bit longer in coming I'm afraid....There's an evil invention of mankind called "research papers"....'Nuff said. 

~benign sadist~  



End file.
